On
August 20, 1922, Antonio Granados (aka as "Tony")
was born in Riverdale, Maryland. He was the eleventh
child and final child, tenth living, and the fourth
son born to Ramon and Maria Concepcion Granados.

When
Tony was just shy of his eighth birthday, his mother
died. Seven years later his father died, and thereafter
Tony went to live with his older brother Ramon.

He
became a U.S. Marine fighter pilot and flew missions
in World War II and Korea. He is the father of
six children and lived in Levittown, PA.

Antonio
"Tony" Granadoswritten by Luis Granados II (aka "Sonny")

Submitted
October 1, 2003

Tony was born at 9:10 p.m. on Sunday, August 20, 1922
in Riverdale, Md. He attended Riverdale Elementary School
and graduated from Hyattsville High School in June,
1939.

On June 21, 1937, his father had a massive stroke in
his office and died. His mother had died seven years
earlier. Upon his father’s death, he and his brother
Johnny moved in with their older brother Ramon and his
wife Kitty until Tony graduated from high school and
Johnny had gone out on his own.

During the summer of 1939, Tony got a job as a laborer
with Rosario’s husband Whitie, earning 25¢ an hour for
a 60-hour week. He moved in with Rosario’s family, dividing
his $15.00 weekly pay three ways: $5 for room &
board; $5 for himself and $5 in the bank.

In December, 1940, at 18, he got a job as a messenger
with the U.S. Dept. or Agriculture in Philadelphia and
promotions came rapidly. By the time he was 20, he had
an office and secretary, and was responsible for all
furniture and equipment in a 13-state region. His replacement
as messenger was Edward Flood, who 5 years later would
become his brother-in-law.

In October, 1942 he enlisted and was accepted into the
Naval Air Corps pilot training program. After 14 months
of rigorous training, he received his "Wings,"
and by choice entered the U. S. Marine Corps as a 2nd
Lt. on April 14, 1944.

After training to go to the South Pacific, he was detailed
with other fighter pilots to fly fighters from the east
to the west coast in preparation for the invasion of
Japan. In July, 1945, they were reassigned to fighter
squadrons only to have everything come to a halt when
the atomic bombs ended the war.

Assuming he¹d soon be released from active duty, he
applied at the University of Pennsylvania¹s Wharton
School of Finance and Commerce, and was accepted for
the 1946 spring semester. The date made for a very tight
schedule, since he and his finance, Rita Flood, wanted
to get married before he started school.

Their wedding took place on March 2, 1946, and after
a one-night honeymoon, the couple moved into an apartment
in Philadelphia. Tony then took a train to Washington
and borrowed his brother Ramon¹s car to drive to Quantico
to get released from active duty. Then it was
back to Philadelphia to start college on March 4 in
uniform, since he had no civilian clothes.

He graduated from Wharton in May, 1948, completing the
4-year program in 2 years and 3 months. He and Rita
had one child with another on the way by the time he
graduated. He got a job with his brother-in-law,
Emil Klumpp, opening a Philadelphia branch for the company
Emil worked for in New York.

Immediately upon his release from active duty, Tony
joined a Marine Corps Reserve Fighter Squadron, which
was called back to active duty for the Korean War on
March 1, 1951. He was stationed at El Torro, California,
where he was joined by Rita and their three children
until he got orders in September to go to Korea.

During his Korean tour, Tony flew 82 missions, some
land-based and some from carriers. He returned home
in June, 1952, having been awarded two Distinguished
Flying Crosses, four Air Medals and an assortment of
campaign ribbons.

While in Korea during the winter of 1951, he visited
several Korean orphanages, and noting their need, wrote
a letter to the New Hope Gazette, where Rita
and the children lived, asking for donations of warm
clothing. The town responded by sending more than a
ton of clothing to help keep the children warm.

As a civilian again, he joined a graphic design firm
in Philadelphia, and after 3 years, opened a branch
office in New York City. In 1959, he started his own
business in New York with two partners. After
eight successful years, the partners agreed to disagree
and closed the business.

In December, 1979, Tony’s wife, Rita, an R.N., was killed
when the car she was driving slipped out of control
on some ice and struck a utility pole. She died instantly.

In August, 1983, Tony formed Granados Associates, Inc.
and the company was quite successful until changes in
the industry such as computers and other high-tech processes
took it over. He and his son Ramon still operate the
business, but on a more limited scale.

The most important, exciting and rewarding part of his
life, says Tony, is the family he and Rita started.
Their 6 children, 4 girls and 2 boys comprise a Judge,
a retired R.N. School Nurse, a dentist, another dentist
who decided to become a stay-at-home mom, Ramon who
works with Tony and his youngest, Lizz, an information
Technology Specialist at the University of Pennsylvania.
His 12 grandchildren are heavily involved in little
league baseball, soccer, basketball and two are in college.

"If the rest of my life is as exciting and happy
as the first part," said Tony, "I¹ll consider
myself lucky indeed, and so far, it looks like it’s
going to go that way."